Yes, a vet is involved. Two of them, in fact.
Background: One of my cats appears to have colitis. She was a little, shall we say, ungroomed for the last month or so, which we attributed to her weight. A week ago she began the morning by yowling and passing bloody mucus. She smelled ammonia-y, chemical-like, and of feces. I took her to the vet. He examined her, took a stool sample (came back negative for parasites), and gave me Flagyl in oral form, b.i.d.
A week later, with many scratches and bites from administering the Flagyl, she’s somewhat better–she still smells weird, some of which could be blood, but not of ammonia or sewage-y. Since I don’t know what Flagyl smells like on that end of the cat, I suspend interpretation. She is clearly not her usual self, but is getting a little perkier. However, I’m still having to wipe her butt periodically, and I’m still getting brown-red and mucus (plus a little stool, plus it’s really unfortunate in terms of carpets and furniture–not at all pleasant, in fact, and really kicking up some obsessive cleaning and handwashing!). The vet has decided to keep giving Flagyl until 3-5 days past cesation of signs. If signs don’t clear after two rounds of Flagyl, he’ll want to do imaging.
Fine. However, he brushes off my requests for a diet that might be easier on her (though I’ve looked at several websites that say that my vet will give me a diet). This is an 11-year old cat who normally eats dry Science Diet Mature Hairball formula, on demand. There’s another 11-year old cat in the house who is not having any trouble. Other than cleaning the water bowl more frequently, does anyone know what I can feed her that might be a little easier on her? She’s coming into the kitchen and crying in the “give me food” way, but when I give her tuna (usually a big treat), she just laps at the water and then leaves.
Thanks.